George Washington University

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George Washington University

The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private

Private university

Private universities are not operated by governments though they may or may not receive funding . Depending on the region, private universities may be subject to government regulation....
, coeducational university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education....
located in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
The school was chartered on February 9, 1821 as The Columbian College in the District of Columbia by an Act of Congress and since that time has developed into a nonsectarian

Nonsectarian

Nonsectarian, in its most literal sense, refers to a lack of sectarianism. The term is also more narrowly used to describe secular private Types of educational institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious denomination....
research

Research

Research is defined as human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of matter. The primary purpose for applied research is discovery , interpretation , and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe....
institution. GW is renowned for its undergraduate international affairs, international business, political science, and political communications programs, as well as its graduate and doctoral programs in business

Business

A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide good s and/or Service to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalism economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners....
, engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying Technology and science knowledge and utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and process that safely realize a desired objective and meet specified criteria....
, social sciences

Social sciences

The social sciences comprise academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including anthropology, communication studies, economics, human geography, history, political science, psychology and sociology....
, international affairs

International relations

International relations represents the study of foreign affairs and global issues among states within the international system, including the roles of states, international organization , non-governmental organizations , and multinational corporations ....
, medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, education

Education

File:Inukshuk Monterrey 1.jpgEducation can be seen as a product or a process and considered in a broad sense or a technical sense. According to philosophy of education George F....
, public health

Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
, and law

LAW

LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
.

first American president George Washington

George Washington

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Encyclopedia

The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private

Private university

University

Washington, D.C.

Nonsectarian

Research

Business

Engineering

Social sciences

International relations

Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, education

Education

File:Inukshuk Monterrey 1.jpgEducation can be seen as a product or a process and considered in a broad sense or a technical sense. According to philosophy of education George F....
, public health

Public health

LAW

LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
.

History

Founding and early history

The first American president George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
had long argued for the creation of a university in the District of Columbia. In his will, he bequeathed fifty shares of the Potomac Company

Potomac Company

The Potomac Company was created in 1785 to make improvements to the Potomac River in order to improve its navigability. The Potomac Company built five skirting canals around the major falls....
to support such an institution. He wrote, "I give and bequeath in perpetuity the fifty shares which I hold in the Potomac Company

Potomac Company

The Potomac Company was created in 1785 to make improvements to the Potomac River in order to improve its navigability. The Potomac Company built five skirting canals around the major falls....
(under the aforesaid Acts of the Legislature of Virginia) towards the endowment of a University to be established within the limits of the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the General Government, if that Government should incline to extend a fostering hand towards it." The shares turned out to not be worth very much, but Washington's idea for a university continued. Aware of Washington's wishes, Baptist

Baptist

A Baptist is a member of a Christian denomination characterized by the rejection of infant baptism in favor of believer's baptism by Baptism#Immersion....
missionaries and leading minister Luther Rice

Luther Rice

Luther Rice helped form a missionary-sending body that became the modern Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention. As a young man at Williams College he became part of a group of young ministers and aspiring missionaries who called themselves "the Brethren" ....
raised funds to purchase a site for a college to educate citizens in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
A large building was constructed on College Hill, which is now known as Meridian Hill, and on February 9, 1821, President James Monroe

James Monroe

James Monroe was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . His administration was marked by the acquisition of Florida ; the Missouri Compromise , in which Missouri was declared a slave state; the admission of Maine in 1820 as a free state; and the profession of the Monroe Doctrine , declaring U.S....
approved the congressional charter

Congressional charter

A congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission, authority and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992....
creating the non-denominational Columbian College in the District of Columbia. The first commencement in 1824 was considered an important event for the young city of Washington, D.C.. In attendance were President Monroe, John C. Calhoun

John C. Calhoun

John Caldwell Calhoun was the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States. He was a leading United States Southern politician from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century....
, Henry Clay

Henry Clay

Henry Clay, Sr. was a nineteenth-century United States statesman and orator who represented Kentucky in both the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate....
, Marquis de Lafayette, and other dignitaries. During the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
, most students left to join the Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America formed as the government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven Southern United States U.S. state of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S....
and the college's buildings were used as a hospital and barracks. Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

Walter Whitman was an United States Poetry of the United States, essayist, journalism, and humanism. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and literary realism, incorporating both views in his works....
was among many of the volunteers to work on the campus. After the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
in 1873, Columbian College became the Columbian University and moved to an urban downtown location centered on 15th and H streets, NW. In 1904, Columbian University changed its name to The George Washington University in an agreement with the George Washington Memorial Association. The university relocated its principal operations to Foggy Bottom in 1912.

The George Washington University, like much of Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, traces many of its origins back to the Freemasons. The Bible

Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
that the presidents of the university use to swear an oath on upon inauguration is the Bible of Freemason George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
. Freemasonry symbols are prominently displayed throughout the campus including the foundation stones of many of the university buildings. The Freemasons feel a special bond in helping the school throughout its history financially.

Expansion

The majority of the present infrastructure and financial stability at GW is due to the tenures of Presidents Cloyd Heck Marvin, Lloyd Hartman Elliott, and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg is a former President of The George Washington University and currently holds the title of President Emeritus and University Professor of Public Service....
. In the 1930s, the University was the center for theoretical physics

Theoretical physics

Theoretical physics employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics in an attempt to explain experimental data taken of the natural world....
. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning cosmologist George Gamow

George Gamow

George Gamow , born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov , was a Russian Empire-born theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He discovered quantum tunneling and worked on radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus, stellar evolution, stellar nucleosynthesis, big bang nucleosynthesis, nucleocosmogenesis and genetics....
produced critical work on the Big Bang Theory at GW in the 1930s and 1940's. In one of the most important moments in the 20th century, Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr

Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Denmark physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922....
announced that Otto Hahn

Otto Hahn

Otto Hahn was a German chemist and Nobel laureate who pioneered the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is regarded as "the father of nuclear chemistry" and the "founder of the atomic age"....
had successfully split the atom on January 26, 1939 at the Fifth Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics

Theoretical physics

Theoretical physics employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics in an attempt to explain experimental data taken of the natural world....
in the Hall of Government. During the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
era, Thurston Hall, an undergraduate dormitory housing 875 students was (according to campus folklore) a staging ground for Student Anti-War Demonstrations (at 1900 F Street NW, the building is 3 blocks from the White House). In 1996, the university purchased the Mount Vernon College for Women in the city's Foxhall

Foxhall, Washington, D.C.

Foxhall is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., bordered by Reservoir Road on the north side and Foxhall Road on the west and south sides. Glover-Archibold Park makes up the eastern border....
neighborhood that became the school's coeducational Mount Vernon Campus. The campus was first utilized in 1997 for women only, but became co-educational in a matter of years. The Mount Vernon campus is now totally integrated into the GW community, serving as a complement to the Foggy Bottom campus. In December 2006, the university named Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

Steven Knapp

Steven Knapp is the current President of The George Washington University, having assumed the position at midnight on August 1, 2007. He is the 16th president of the university, succeeding Stephen Joel Trachtenberg....
its next president. He began his presidency on August 1, 2007.

Campuses

Foggy Bottom

The main GW campus consists of 43-acres in historic Foggy Bottom

Foggy Bottom

Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest 19th-century neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. The area is thought to have received the name because its low elevation made it susceptible to concentrations of fog and industrial smoke, an atmospheric trait that did not prevent the neighborhood from becoming the original location of the United States Naval Ob...
and is located a few blocks from the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian architecture and has been the executive residence of every U.S....
and the National Mall

National Mall

The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the Capital of the United States. Officially termed by the National Park Service the National Mall & Memorial Parks, the term commonly includes the areas that are officially part of West Potomac Park and Constitution Gardens to the west, and often is taken to...
. Barring a few outlying buildings, the boundaries of campus are delineated by Pennsylvania Avenue, 19th Street, E Street

E Street Expressway

The E Street Expressway is a spur from Interstate 66 into the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The eastern terminus of the E Street Expressway is at 20th Street , N.W....
, and Virginia Avenue

Virginia Avenue

Virginia Avenue is a street in the Washington, D.C. , Washington, D.C. , and Washington, D.C. Address #Quadrants of Washington, D.C. Like other state-named streets in Washington, it diagonally crosses the grid pattern formed by lettered and numbered streets....
. The University owns much of the property in Foggy Bottom and leases it to various tenants, including the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is a bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs with the stated goal of reducing poverty....
and the International Monetary Fund

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rates and the balance of payments....
. Other nearby institutions include the Harry S. Truman Building (Department of State

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the United States Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States Federal government of the United States, similar to foreign ministries, foreign offices, ministries of external relations, etc....
headquarters), John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C....
, United States Institute of Peace

United States Institute of Peace

The United States Institute of Peace or USIP, established in 1984, is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by the United States Congress....
, Watergate complex

Watergate complex

The Watergate complex is an office-apartment-hotel complex built in 1967 in Washington DC Washington, D.C., United States, best known for being the site of burglaries that led to the Watergate scandal and the resignation of President of the United States of America Richard Nixon....
, and the embassies of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south....
, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
, Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay is a country located in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.46 million people, of whom 1.7 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area....
, and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country on the Balkans peninsula of South Eastern Europe with an area of 51,129 square kilometres . Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the south, Bosnia and Herzegovina is Landlocked#Nearly landlocked, except for 26 kilometres of the Adriatic Sea coas...
.

The university has a significant presence in the area. Signs indicating the relative location of various university buildings can be found on almost every street corner. The student union

Student activity center

A student activity center or SAC, is a type of building found on university campuses. In the United States, such a building is more often called a student union, student commons, or student center....
(the Marvin Center), several residence halls, the Media and Public Affairs building, Academic Center and other major academic buildings are located within a three-block radius of University Yard (the original quadrangle

Quadrangle (architecture)

In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building....
on campus).

The nearby area surrounding GW's main library, Gelman Library, forms the hub of the campus. The seven-story library building contains over two million volumes and is constructed in the Brutalist

Brutalist architecture

Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the Modern architecture movement....
architectural style

Architectural style

Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of form, wikt:technique, materials, time period, region, etc. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture....
of the 1970s. It features a concrete façade punctuated by windows that are divided by projecting vertical slabs. For most of the year, parts of the library are open 24 hours day, seven days per week for use by students, faculty and staff. The library's upper level is home to the National Security Archive

National Security Archive

The National Security Archive is a 501 non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located within The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.....
, a research institution that publishes declassified U.S. government files concerning selected topics of American foreign policy. It was a National Security Archive Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of Information Act (United States)

The Freedom of Information Act is the implementation of freedom of information freedom of information in the United States in the United States....
request that eventually made the Central Intelligence Agency's

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the Federal government of the United States. It is the successor of the Office of Strategic Services formed during World War II to coordinate espionage activities between the branches of the US military services....
so-called "Family Jewels

Family Jewels (Central Intelligence Agency)

The Family Jewels is the informal name used to refer to a set of reports that detail activities conducted by the United States Central Intelligence Agency....
" public.

Adjacent to the library is Lisner Auditorium and a large open area known as Kogan Plaza. Close to the plaza and located near Monroe Hall and Hall of Government is the Monroe Court, a landscaped area with a large fountain. The Foggy Bottom–GWU Washington Metro

Washington Metro

The Washington Metro is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C. and its surrounding suburbs. The system is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ....
station is located at the intersection of 23rd and I Streets NW due south of Washington Circle

Washington Circle

Washington Circle is a traffic circle in the Washington DC quadrant of Washington, D.C., U.S.A. It is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue, New Hampshire Avenue, K Street , and 23rd Street, N.W....
, and provides access to the Orange and Blue lines. The University Hospital is located next to the Metro station entrance.

The Foggy Bottom campus contains most of the residential dormitories in which GW students live. The most notable include: Thurston Hall, Potomac House, Fulbright Hall, Mitchell Hall, Schenley Hall, Munson Hall, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Hall, New Hall, Ivory Tower, and The West End, among others.

In late 2007, construction began on a large mixed-use residential, office and retail development (known as "Square 54") located on the site of the old GW Hospital and just east of the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metrorail station. It is the second-largest undeveloped lot in the District of Columbia.

Mount Vernon

In 1999, the university acquired the 23-acre Mount Vernon College for Women

Mount Vernon College for Women

Mount Vernon College for Women was a Women's colleges in the United States in Washington, D.C.The college began in 1875 as a high school and junior college....
campus and renamed it The George Washington University at Mount Vernon College.

Nicknamed "The Vern," students at this campus are the neighbors of the Embassy of Germany in Washington

Embassy of Germany in Washington

The German Embassy in Washington, D.C. is Germany's diplomatic mission to the United States.The current embassy is located at 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, D.C., which is west of Georgetown University Hospital....
in the Foxhall

Foxhall, Washington, D.C.

Foxhall is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., bordered by Reservoir Road on the north side and Foxhall Road on the west and south sides. Glover-Archibold Park makes up the eastern border....
area. The campus is served by a 24-hour shuttle service known as the "Vern Express." Despite the fact that its dorms are fully co-educational, the campus' legacy as a former women's college has been retained with the Elizabeth Somers Women's Leadership Program, a residential-academic program for first-year female undergraduate students. The Mount Vernon campus also hosts the university's outdoor varsity sports.

The Mount Vernon campus is being heavily promoted by the University to attract more students. Exclusive events such as the Fountain Day provide an incentive for students to explore and use the facilities on campus. The Mount Vernon Campus also offers special services such as free DVD rentals and better catering services to make the place a more inviting living environment. Along with catering services from the on-campus dining facility, restaurants surround the campus within walking distance, many of which accept Colonial Cash (the official currency of the GWU students) and deliver free of charge. The University is also developing the campus to house more freshmen as they have started a new housing project in the summer of 2008 to house an additional 1000 students.

Ashburn and other centers

The George Washington University also operates a postgraduate-geared campus in Ashburn

Ashburn, Virginia

Ashburn, Virginia is an unincorporated area located in Loudoun County, Virginia, Virginia, west of Washington, D.C., and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area....
, Virginia (near Dulles International Airport) and several other satellite education centers including the Alexandria Graduate Education Center in Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the United States Census 2000, the city had a total population of 128,283....
, the Graduate Education Center in Arlington, and the Hampton Roads Center in Newport News

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the harbor of Hampton Roads....
. The Ashburn

Ashburn, Virginia

Ashburn, Virginia is an unincorporated area located in Loudoun County, Virginia, Virginia, west of Washington, D.C., and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area....
campus hosts a National Transportation Safety Board

National Transportation Safety Board

The National Transportation Safety Board is an Independent agencies of the United States government responsible for civil transportation accident investigation....
crash-safety facility.

Organization

University

The George Washington University is governed by a Board of Trustees and the president who are in charge of managing the institution as a whole and providing a vision for the future. The current Chairman of the Board is W. Russell Ramsey. Ramsey is a business entrepreneur who is known as the co-founder of Freidman, Billings, Ramsey Group, a top investment bank in the United States. He is currently the chairman, CEO, and CIO of Ramsey Asset Management. The current President is Steven Knapp

Steven Knapp

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Hopkins or JHU, is a private university research university located in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, United States....
before being chosen by the Board of Trustees in 2007. Knapp is the sixteenth president of the university. There is currently no student representative on the Board, a perennially contentious issue in Student Association elections. Nonetheless, in 2004, students voted in support of representation onto the Board of Trustees.

Schools and colleges

GW is organized into nine schools and colleges each with a different dean and organization.

The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) is the oldest and largest college in the university. It was founded in 1821; at the beginning of the university's history, there was no distinction between this college and the university. The School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), and the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration (SPPPA) belong to this college, although they are run separately. The Columbian College was among the first American institutions to grant a Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph.D. or PhD for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", is an postgraduate academic degree awarded by University....
(Ph.D.) in 1888. The Columbian College is notable for its academic diversity.

The School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) was founded in 1821 due to the need for doctors in the District of Columbia. In 1981, the Medical Center became the center of the national spotlight when President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
was rushed to the emergency room after an attempted assassination. The emergency room area was later renamed the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine, and other politicians, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 in the George W....
, come to GW for routine and emergency procedures. An associate school in the university is the School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS).

George Washington University Law School was established in 1826 and is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia. Supreme Court Justices like David J. Brewer and John Marshall Harlan

John Marshall Harlan

'John Marshall Harlan' was an American Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is most notable as the lone dissenter in the famous 1896 case of Plessy v....
were among those who served on its faculty. Chief Justice John Roberts

John Roberts

John Glover Roberts, Jr. is the seventeenth and current Chief Justice of the United States. Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005, Roberts generally votes with the Judicial philosophy#Judicial Conservative wing of the Supreme Court of the United States....
presided over its moot court

Moot court

In Anglo Saxon times a moot was a gathering of prominent men in a locality to discuss matters of local importance. Today it is known as Moot court and is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument....
in 2007.

The Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GSEHD) has always been one of the top Graduate Schools of Education in the United States. GSEHD was officially started in 1909. The school is composed of three distinct academic departments, and it is one of the largest schools within GW. U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is an influential United States newsmagazine published in Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek, it was for many years a leading news weekly, although it focused more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories....
rated the graduate program in the top 20, and was 5th overall in total research expenditures.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS)

George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science

The School of Engineering and Applied Science is a college within George Washington University in Washington, D.C. which specializes in engineering, technology and communications, and transportation....
was founded on October 1, 1884 as the Corcoran Scientific School of Columbian University. The school separated from the Columbian College in 1962 and was one of the first to accept women for degree candidacy in engineering and has awarded the most engineering doctoral degrees to women in the country. The bazooka

Bazooka

A bazooka is one of a series of anti-armor and anti-bunker, man-portable rocket launchers that became famous during World War II. Technically named as the M9 Anti-tank Rocket Launcher, it was also called "stovepipe" and used to deliver high explosives into machine gun nests and hardened bunkers in all WWII theaters....
was invented at the SEAS in 1942.

The Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA)

Elliott School of International Affairs

The Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University is located in the heart of Washington, D.C. As a leading professional school of international affairs, the Elliott School offers undergraduate and graduate degrees with majors covering a range of global issues and world regions....
was originally founded in 1898 as the School of Comparative Jurisprudence and Diplomacy. Under President Lloyd Elliott, the school completely separated from the Columbian College. On September 3, 2005, alumnus Colin Powell

Colin Powell

Colin Luther Powell, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Meritorious Service Decoration, is an American statesman and a former four-star General in the United States Army....
opened a new complex for this school at 1957 E Street NW in front of the Department of Agriculture

Department of Agriculture

In many country and subnational entity, the Department of Agriculture is the government agency responsible for regulating agriculture....
.

The part-time MBA program or "Professional MBA", is a flexible format program and is currently ranked 26th in the nation according to US News and World Report.

The George Washington School of Business was established with a $1 million gift by the Masonic

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal and service organizations that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million ....
Supreme Council

Supreme Council

Supreme Council may refer to:In culture:* Supreme Council of Antiquities, part of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture* Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes, an umbrella organisation in Greece established in 1997...
of the Scottish Rite

Scottish Rite

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry , commonly known as simply the Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry....
for the Southern Jurisdiction in 1928.

On February 6, 2006, the Chairman and CEO of FedEx

FedEx

FedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States. The name "FedEx" is a syllabic abbreviation of the name of the company's original air division, Federal Express, which was used until 2000....
Frederick Smith opened a new complex for the school called Duques Hall.

The School of Business is now located in the Ric & Dawn Duques Hall, named after graduate and member of Alpha Kappa Psi

Alpha Kappa Psi

??? is the oldest and largest Professional fraternity business Fraternities and sororities. The Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity was founded on October 5, 1904 at New York University, and was incorporated on May 20, 1905....
fraternity, Ric Duques. The Hall expands to include Funger Hall, which serves as the site for many SOB activities.

During the Trachtenberg Presidency, the University has also began to provide professional education. Some schools founded during his era were the College of Professional Studies, and the Graduate School of Political Management.

Academics

Admission

GW received more than 19,300 applications and admitted 6,750 students for the class of 2012, or approximately 36% of applicants.

Students at GW participate in a wide variety of educational opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. 9,700 full-time undergraduates are studying in 87 majors with 1,500 in business, 500 in engineering, 2,000 in international affairs, 700 in communications and media, 800 in sciences and math, 2,900 in social sciences, and 1,300 in arts, languages, and humanities. Nearly 900 students participate in GW's Study Abroad Programs each semester in 50 countries. Additionally, about 125 entering students each fall join the University Honors Program community of 500 students.

The George Washington University has been ranked by The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review is an United States educational preparation company. It offers test preparation for standardized aptitude tests such as the SAT and advice regarding college admissions....
as in Top 10 for the following categories:

Most Politically Active
Dorms Like Palaces
Great College Towns
Best in the Northeast
College With a Conscience

Tuition

The George Washington University is an expensive private educational institution in the United States for undergraduate education. Even though tuition is guaranteed to remain at the freshman rate for up to ten continuous (full time) semesters of attendance at the university, tuition has risen 58 percent over the past seven years. Tuition for the 2009-2010 year is $41,610 with a housing/board estimated cost of $9,900. That tuition rate only applies to the incoming Class of 2011 and those who remain at the university after 10 full-time semesters. However, GW also gives the most need-based financial aid in the country.

Research

There are major research institutions that many students utilize like the Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books....
, the National Institutes of Health

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research....
, the Carnegie Institute, the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility , commonly called Jefferson Lab , is a United States United States Department of Energy National Labs operated as of 1 June 2006 by Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, a joint venture between Southeastern Universities Research Association, Inc., and CSC Applied Technologies, LLC....
, and the National Geographic Society

National Geographic Society

The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world....
. Many think tank

Think tank

A think tank is an organization, institute, corporation, or group that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economy, science or technology issues, industrial or business policies, or military advice....
s nearby provide students with every opportunity to decipher and participate in research projects with professors and advisors.

Student life

The university is located in downtown D.C., near the Kennedy Center, embassies, and other cultural events. There are many student organizations at the University. GW has a Division I

Division I

Division I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States....
athletics program that includes men's baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, women's lacrosse, rowing, soccer, women's softball, squash, swimming & diving, tennis, women's volleyball, and water polo. Colonials athletics teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference. While only a Division II program, the Men's and Women's Rugby Teams both compete in the Potomac Rugby Union and have had much recent success.

GW has a NROTC program on campus.

Student organizations and government

All student organizations are run through the Student Association (SA). The SA is fashioned after the federal government with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. Some SA presidents have been successful after college, such as former SA president Edward "Skip" Gnehm

Edward Gnehm

Edward William Gnehm, Jr., also known as Skip Gnehm was most recently the Ambassadors from the United States to Jordan and is now a faculty member at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs....
, who was the Ambassador to Kuwait during the Gulf War and received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award and two Presidential Meritorious Service Awards.

There are over 300 registered student organizations on campus. The GW College Republicans has been visited by politicians like John Ashcroft

John Ashcroft

John David Ashcroft is an American politician who was the 79th United States Attorney General. He served during the first term of President of the United States George W....
and former President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
. The International Affairs Society (IAS) runs the university's award winning Model United Nation's team, in addition to hosting yearly high school and middle school Model UN conferences on campus. GW's Student Global AIDS Campaign

Student Global AIDS Campaign

The Student Global AIDS Campaign is an advocacy group with more than 85 chapters at high schools, colleges, and universities across the United States....
(SGAC) is one of the most active chapters in the country due to the high amount of AIDS cases in Washington, D.C. The GW Chapter of STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, or GW STAND, was formed in 2003 and works with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States's living memorial to the Holocaust. Located among monuments and memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM is dedicated to help leaders and citizens of the world to confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy....
on information about genocide

Genocide

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.While precise genocide definitions, a legal definition is found in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide ....
in Darfur

Darfur

Darfur is a region in Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by History of the Anglo-Egyptian co-dominium....
. The Global Language Group, or Global Languages, is a non-profit organization that offers over 150 free classes in 50 languages.

There are chapters of many varied academic groups at the University. The local chapter of the Society of Physics Students was at one time under the auspices of world-renowned scientists like George Gamow

George Gamow

Ralph Asher Alpher

Ralph Asher Alpher was a United States of America physical cosmology....
, Mario Schoenberg and Edward Teller

Edward Teller

Edward Teller was a Jewish-Hungarian-American theoretical physics physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb", even though he claimed that he did not care for the title....
, who have all taught at the university. The Enosinian Society, founded in 1822, is one of the university's oldest student organizations. Invited speakers included Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman during the nation's antebellum. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests....
.

There are multiple news sources on campus: the twice-weekly newspaper The GW Hatchet
GW Hatchet

The GW Hatchet is an independent student newspaper at The George Washington University. Founded in 1904, it is the second-oldest newspaper in the District of Columbia, behind only The Washington Post....
, founded in 1904 and The Daily Colonial, an online daily founded in 2004. There is also an online only student-run radio station, WRGW

WRGW

WRGW is the student run radio station of The George Washington University. It broadcasts every day throughout the school year from 8am-12am online....
, that is in its 79th year and campus television station GWTV

GWTV

This page describes the student-run television station of The George Washington University. See also: Great West TelevisionGWTV is the student-run television station of George Washington University....
broadcasts on campus cable channel 6 and on its website .

Controversies

The Program Board had, in years past, scheduled an X-rated film to show as part of their semester series. The film was usually partnered with a discussion of the First Amendment

First Amendment to the United States Constitution

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress from making laws "Establishment Clause of the First Amendment" or that prohibit the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, laws that infringe the Freedom of speech in the United State...
or a seminar on the sociological underpinnings of pornography. One year in the mid-1990s, "Porn Night" garnered national press coverage along with an ensuing protest. The film shown that night was John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut. The organized protest brought together College Republicans with College Democrats, Christians, Jews and Muslims and a bevy of diverse student organizations to speak out against pornography. A number of university administrators appeared that night to show their support of the students' right to assemble - on one hand to view the movie and on the other to protest using student fees to show the film in the first place.

A number of posters in October 2007 surfaced at GW satirizing the "Islamofascism

Islamofascism

Islamofascism is a neologism concerning the association of the ideological or operational characteristics of certain Islamist movements from the late 20th century on, with European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neofascist movements, or totalitarianism....
Awareness Week," which was assumed to have been from the GW Young American's Foundation. On October 9, The Daily Colonial reported that the posters were not the work of the YAF, but rather an attempt to discredit the YAF for their involvement in promoting the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. Later that day, seven students advocating against alleged racism inherent in Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week emailed their statement of responsibility regarding the posters to the GW Hatchet. While YAF and other conservative groups demanded that the students be expelled, the university's judicial services found the students in violation of only GW's postering policy and the students were put on disciplinary probation and fined $25 for the satirical fliers.

Colonial Inauguration

Every year, freshmen are introduced to GW with an elaborate orientation led by a group of student group leaders called the Colonial Cabinet. During the two and a half days, students learn how the University functions and what is expected of them. It is one of the largest orientation programs for universities in the northeastern United States.

Greek life

GW has a Greek community of over 1600 students (19 percent of the undergraduate population).

There are fourteen recognized men's social fraternity chapters on campus, including Alpha Epsilon Pi

Alpha Epsilon Pi

Alpha Epsilon Pi is the only international Jewish college fraternities and sororities in North America, with 140 chapters in the United States and Canada, and over 7,000 active undergraduates....
, Beta Theta Pi

Beta Theta Pi

Beta Theta Pi is a social collegiate fraternities and sororities that was founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi....
, Delta Tau Delta

Delta Tau Delta

Delta Tau Delta is a United States-based international Fraternities and sororities.Delta Tau Delta was founded in 1858 at Bethany College , Bethany, West Virginia ....
, Kappa Alpha Order

Kappa Alpha Order

Kappa Alpha Order is an American social fraternity and fraternal order. Kappa Alpha Order has 131 active chapters with more than and 149,000 initiated members....
, Kappa Sigma

Kappa Sigma

?S is an international fraternities and sororities with currently 216 chapters and 29 colonies in North America. There have been more than 250,000 initiates, of which more than 182,500 are living and more than 12,000 are undergraduates....
, Lambda Chi Alpha

Lambda Chi Alpha

For a list of prominent members of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, see: List of notable members of Lambda Chi AlphaLambda Chi Alpha , headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and one of the largest men's general Fraternities and sororities in North America, by its own count...
, Phi Kappa Psi

Phi Kappa Psi

Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity is an American Fraternities and sororities....
, Phi Sigma Kappa

Phi Sigma Kappa

Phi Sigma Kappa is a social Fraternities and sororities devoted to three cardinal principles: the Promotion of Brotherhood, the Stimulation of Scholarship, and the Development of Character....
, Pi Kappa Alpha

Pi Kappa Alpha

Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity is an international, secret, social, Greek alphabet, college fraternities and sororities. It was founded at 47 West The Range at the University of Virginia in the United States on Sunday evening, March 1 1868....
, Pi Kappa Phi

Pi Kappa Phi

Pi Kappa Phi is an United States social Fraternities and sororities. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg, Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty, Jr....
, Sigma Chi

Sigma Chi

Sigma Chi is one of the largest and oldest all-male, college, greek alphabet social fraternities and sororities and a secret society. Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon....
, Sigma Nu

Sigma Nu

SN is an undergraduate college fraternity with chapters in the United States and Canada. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, Virginia....
, Sigma Phi Epsilon

Sigma Phi Epsilon

SF? , commonly nicknamed SigEp, is a secret letter, social college Fraternities and sororities for male college students in the United States....
, Tau Kappa Epsilon

Tau Kappa Epsilon

Tau Kappa Epsilon is a college fraternities and sororities founded on January 10th, 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University with chapters in the United States, and Canada, and affiliation with a German fraternity system known as the Corps of the Weinheimer Senioren Convent ....
, Theta Delta Chi

Theta Delta Chi

Theta Delta Chi is a social Fraternities and sororities that was founded in 1847 at Union College. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are Theta Delt, Thete, TDX, and TDC. Theta Delta Chi brothers refer to their local organization as Charges rather than using the co...
, and Zeta Beta Tau

Zeta Beta Tau

Zeta Beta Tau is a historically Judaism, presently nonsectarian international fraternities and sororities. Today the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood numbers over 130,000 initiated Brothers, and over 80 student chapter locations....
.

There are nine Panhellenic sororities on campus, including Alpha Delta Pi

Alpha Delta Pi

Alpha Delta Pi was founded May 15 1851 at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia making it the first female fraternal organization established. The Executive office for this sorority is located on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia....
, Alpha Epsilon Phi

Alpha Epsilon Phi

Alpha Epsilon Phi is a Jewish-centered Fraternities and sororities and member of the National Panhellenic Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1909 at Barnard College in New York City by seven Jewish women; Helen Phillips Lipman, Ida Beck Carlin, Rose Gerstein Smolin, Augustina "Tina" Hess Solomon, Lee Reiss Leibert, Rose Salmowitz Marv...
, Alpha Phi

Alpha Phi

Alpha Phi is a fraternities and sororities for women founded at Syracuse University on September 18, 1872. Its celebrated Founder's Day is October 10....
, Chi Omega

Chi Omega

Chi Omega is a women's Fraternities and sororities and the largest member of the National Panhellenic Conference. Chi Omega boasts 174 active collegiate chapters and hundreds of alumnae chapters....
, Delta Gamma

Delta Gamma

Delta Gamma is one of the oldest, largest and prestigious women's fraternities and sororities in the United States and Canada, with its Executive Offices based in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio....
, Kappa Kappa Gamma

Kappa Kappa Gamma

Kappa Kappa Gamma is a college Fraternities and sororities, founded at Monmouth College, Illinois. Although the groundwork of the organization was developed as early as 1869, the 1876 Convention voted on October 13, 1870 as Founders Day, because no earlier charter date could be determined....
, Pi Beta Phi

Pi Beta Phi

Pi Beta Phi is an international Fraternities and sororities founded as I.C. Sorosis on April 28, 1867, at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois....
, Sigma Delta Tau

Sigma Delta Tau

Sigma Delta Tau is a national wiktionary:sorority and member of the National Panhellenic Conference, was founded March 25, 1917 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York....
, Sigma Kappa

Sigma Kappa

Sigma Kappa is a fraternities and sororities founded in 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Sigma Kappa was founded by five women: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, Frances Elliott Mann Hall and Louise Helen Coburn....
, and Phi Sigma Sigma

Phi Sigma Sigma

Phi Sigma Sigma , colloquially known as "Phi Sig," was the first collegiate nonsectarian sorority, welcoming women of all faiths and backgrounds....
. Three National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) sororities exist on campus: Alpha Kappa Alpha

Alpha Kappa Alpha

Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek alphabet sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle....
, Delta Sigma Theta

Delta Sigma Theta

Delta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community....
, and Zeta Phi Beta

Zeta Phi Beta

Zeta Phi Beta is an international, historically black Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council....
.

Other Greek-life exist on campus in the form of multicultural, professional, community-serviced based and honor groups: Alpha Kappa Psi

Alpha Kappa Psi

Delta Sigma Pi

?S? is a co-ed Professional fraternity business Fraternities and sororities in the United States of America. It was founded on November 7, 1907 at the School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance, New York University, New York City, New York and is currently headquartered in Oxford, Ohio, Ohio....
, Order of Omega, Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa

Omicron Delta Kappa

Omicron Delta Kappa, or O?K, also known as The Circle, or more commonly ODK, is a national leadership honor society. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, by 15 student and faculty leaders....
, Tau Beta Pi

Tau Beta Pi

The Tau Beta Pi Association is the oldest engineering honor society in the United States and the second oldest collegiate honor society in America....
, Iota Nu Delta

Iota Nu Delta

Iota Nu Delta , is a South Asian interest Fraternities and sororities geared towards men of all descents. It was founded on February 7, 1994, by a group of eight men of South Asian descent at Binghamton University, in Binghamton, New York....
, Lambda Upsilon Lambda

Lambda Upsilon Lambda

La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity was established on February 19 1982 in order to address the shortcomings of academic institutions in meeting and addressing the needs of Latino students in higher education....
, Phi Alpha Delta

Phi Alpha Delta

FA? , or PAD, is the largest co-ed professional law Fraternities and sororities in the United States of America. It was founded in 1902 and today has over 270,000 initiated members....
, Pi Delta Psi

Pi Delta Psi

Pi Delta Psi is an Asian-American Cultural Interest Fraternity founded at Binghamton University on February 20 1994. The mission of Pi Delta Psi is to break down cultural barriers by fostering individual growth in the areas of "Academic Achievement, Cultural Awareness, Righteousness, Friendship and Loyalty"....
, Kappa Phi Lambda

Kappa Phi Lambda

Kappa Phi Lambda is an Asian American interest sorority that was founded on March 9, 1995 at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York. The sorority was conceived through the notion of an organization that would provide a culturally sound and educationally inspiring grounding for Asian American women....
, Sigma Psi Zeta

Sigma Psi Zeta

Sigma Psi Zeta , a Multicultural, Asian-Interest sorority, was founded on March 23 1994 at the University at Albany, The State University of New York and incorporated in New York on March 15 1996 by the 10 Founding Mothers....
, Delta Phi Epsilon

Delta Phi Epsilon (professional)

Delta Phi Epsilon is the name given to several college fraternities and sororities. It is the only national Professional fraternity foreign service fraternity and sorority....
, Theta Tau

Theta Tau

T? Fraternity was founded in 1904 by four engineering students at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The purpose of Theta Tau is to develop and maintain a high standard of professional interest among its members, and to unite them in a strong bond of fraternal fellowship....
, Phi Sigma Pi

Phi Sigma Pi

Phi Sigma Pi is a national coeducational honor Fraternities and Sororities based in the United States. The fraternity is a 501 not-for-profit organization incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania, with the purpose of fostering the ideals of scholarship, leadership and fellowship....
, Alpha Phi Omega

Alpha Phi Omega

Alpha Phi Omega is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of approximately 17,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni members....
, Sigma Pi Sigma

Sigma Pi Sigma

Sigma Pi Sigma is the National Physics Honor Society. It strives to promote physics at all stages, to promote fraternity between those who excel at physics, and to promote service among its members....
, and Epsilon Sigma Alpha

Epsilon Sigma Alpha

Epsilon Sigma Alpha International is a non-collegiate Service club for women and men ages 18 and older. The organization states that its purpose "is to inspire leadership and service by bringing good people together to pursue programs and projects that make a positive difference locally, nationally and internationally."...
.

Athletics and spirit programs

Athletics

George Washington University is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference and most of its teams play at the NCAA Division I

Division I

Division I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States....
level. All indoor sports play at the Smith Center

Charles E. Smith Athletic Center

The Charles E. Smith Athletic Center is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Washington D.C.. It is home to the George Washington University Colonials men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the university's water polo, gymnastics, and volleyball teams....
on the Foggy Bottom campus. The outdoor events are held at the Mount Vernon campus Athletic Complex.

The university's colors are buff

Buff (colour)

Buff is a pale yellow-brown colour that got its name from the colour of buff leather.Biology* Buff is widespread in the animal kingdom ....
and blue

Blue

Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440?490 Nanometre....
(buff being a color similar to tan, but often represented as gold or yellow). The colors were taken from George Washington's uniform in the Revolutionary War.

The teams have achieved great successes in recent years including a first round victory in the Men's NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament in 2004.

The sailing team competes in the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association

Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association

Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association organizes and regulates intercollegiate sailing in Ontario, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the eastern part of West Virginia, and the District of Columbia....
and in gymnastics in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League

East Atlantic Gymnastics League

The East Atlantic Gymnastics League is a collegiate women's gymnastics conference competing at the NCAA NCAA Division 1 level. Membership comprises eight universities:...
.

Men's Basketball

Mike Jarvis

Mike Jarvis is the head Men's basketball coach at Florida Atlantic University . He has coached at Boston University, The George Washington University, and St....
coached GW in the 1990s, and led the team to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1993, where they were beaten by the Fab Five

Fab Five

The Fab Five nickname has been applied to the following:* The Fab Five on the University of Michigan men's basketball team that reached the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship as freshmen in 1992 and again as sophomores in 1993....
University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan is a public university research university located in the state of Michigan. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan, which also includes two regional campuses in University of Michigan-Flint and University of Michigan-Dearborn....
team (which later vacated its wins due to NCAA rule violations). Jarvis also coached current Colonials Head Coach Karl Hobbs

Karl Hobbs

Yinka Dare

Yinka Dare was a Nigerian professional basketball player; a 7-foot-1, 270 pound Center . He played one season at Milford Academy High, a prep school in Connecticut....
also played at George Washington for two years before being drafted in the first round by the New Jersey Nets

New Jersey Nets

The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association that plays in the Eastern Conference 's Atlantic Division ....
.

GW's basketball team returned to the national stage in 2004 after defeating No. 9 Michigan State

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public university research university in East Lansing, Michigan, Michigan United States. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act....
and No. 12 Maryland

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a public research university located in the city of College Park, Maryland in Prince George's County, Maryland outside Washington, D.C....
in back to back games to win the 2004 BB&T

BB&T

The BB&T Corporation is one of America's largest banks, offering full-service commercial and retail banking services along with other financial services like insurance, investments, retail brokerage, mortgage, corporate finance, consumer finance, payment services, international banking, leasing and trust....
Classic. That year, the Men's Basketball team went on to win the Atlantic 10 West Title and the Atlantic 10 Tournament Title (earning an automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Tournament

2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball....
. The team received a #12 seed, losing to #5 seed Georgia Tech

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly known as Georgia Tech or simply Tech, is a public university, coeducational research university in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States....
in the first round.

The team began the 2005 season ranked 21st in the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an Media of the United States news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, Radio station and Television station stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staffers....
poll, reaching as high as sixth in the polls, and after some tournament success they closed out the year ranked 19th in the nation. They had a record of 26-2 (16-0 in the A-10) going into the 2006 NCAA Tournament

2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season....
. The 2005-2006 team achieved the school's highest ranking in the last 50 years, peaking at #6 in the nation, had been one of the team's best ever, and received an #8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In the tournament, they came back from an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat #9 seed UNC-Wilmington, but lost to Duke University

Duke University

Duke University is a private university research university located in Durham, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodism and Religious Society of Friends in the present-day town of Trinity, North Carolina in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892....
, the top overall seed, in the Second Round.

While only one Colonial from the 2005-2006 team was drafted in the 2006 NBA Draft

2006 NBA Draft

The 2006-07 NBA season NBA Draft was held on June 28 at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft was broadcast in the United States on ESPN and in 202 countries worldwide....
, J. R. Pinnock, two other Colonials from that team played in the NBA. Pops Mensah-Bonsu

Pops Mensah-Bonsu

Nana Papa Yaw Dwene Mensah-Bonsu, generally known as Pops Mensah-Bonsu , is a United Kingdom professional basketball player, currently with the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association....
played for the Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks are the professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association based in Dallas, Texas.Founded in 1980, the Dallas Mavericks have won two division titles and one conference championship....
(and most recently played with Joventut Badalona

Joventut Badalona

Club Joventut Badalona is a Spain professional basketball team based in the city of Badalona in Spain. Known to their fans as La Penya , it is one of only three teams that have never promotion and relegation from the top division of the Spanish League, the Asociaci?n de Clubs de Baloncesto....
in Spain) and Mike Hall played for the Washington Wizards

Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. They play in the National Basketball Association ....
.

The 2006-2007 basketball season was considered by many to be a rebuilding year for the Colonials after graduating their entire starting front court and losing Pinnock to the NBA. Coach Karl Hobbs

Karl Hobbs

Karl Hobbs is the head coach of the George Washington University Colonials men's basketball team. He has won two Atlantic 10 Conference championships, and has led the Colonials to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances....
and Senior guard Carl Elliott managed to lead the team to a 23-8 record, winning the 2007 Atlantic 10 Tournament in Atlantic City, NJ (once again earning an auto-bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship). The Colonials were placed as a #11 seed lost to #6 seed Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private university research university in Nashville, Tennessee, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for ship transport and rail transport magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial United States dollar1 million endowment despite having never been to the Southern...
in Sacramento, CA 77-44.

Hobbs, a former player and coach under Jim Calhoun at the University of Connecticut

University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut is the Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 28,000 students on its six campuses, including nearly 8,000 graduate students in multiple programs....
is in his sixth year as head coach. Known for his animated sideline personality Hobbs is considered one of the up-and-coming coaches in the NCAA. As of late, he has fallen out of favor with fans, being greeted with boos on his entrance to games, due to his mismanagement of the team leading to several losses.

Spirit programs

The Colonials mascot is named George, and is portrayed by a student wearing an outfit inspired by the uniform worn by General Washington. The sports teams are called the Colonials, which was chosen by the student body in 1924. Another version of the GW mascot is an inflatable Colonial figure called Big George. .

The spirit program also includes the Colonial Brass, directed by Professor Benno Fritz.

Notable alumni, faculty, and degrees

Notable alumni

GW alumni include current and past political figures Senator J. William Fulbright

J. William Fulbright

James William Fulbright was a United States Senate representing Arkansas from 1945 to 1975.Fulbright was a Southern Democrat and a staunch multilateralist, supported the creation of the United Nations and opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee....
, current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Harry Reid

Harry Mason Reid is the Senior Senator United States Senate from Nevada and a member of the Democratic Party , as well as the U.S. Senate Majority Leader for the 110th Congress....
, Senator Mark Warner

Mark Warner

Mark Robert Warner is an United States Politics of the United States, businessman, and the Junior Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is a member of the Democratic Party ....
, House Minority Whip-elect Eric Cantor

Eric Cantor

Eric Ivan Cantor is the Republican Party representative of Virginia's 7th congressional district. The district includes most of the northern and western sections of Richmond, Virginia, along with most of Richmond's western suburbs and portions of the Shenandoah Valley....
, former First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, former Secretary of State Colin Powell

Colin Powell

Colin Luther Powell, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Meritorious Service Decoration, is an American statesman and a former four-star General in the United States Army....
, General John Shalikashvili, Allen Dulles, John Foster Dulles

John Foster Dulles

John Foster Dulles served as United States Secretary of State under President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism around the world....
, former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover

John Edgar Hoover , generally known as J. Edgar Hoover, was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States....
and President Faure Gnassingbé

Faure Gnassingbé

Faure Essozimna Gnassingb? has been the List of Presidents of Togo of Togo since May 4, 2005; he was previously president for twenty days from February 5 to February 25, 2005....
of Togo.

Other notable alumni and former students include Courtney Cox Arquette, Kerry Washington

Kerry Washington

Kerry Washington is an United States actor. She is known for her roles as Ray Charles' wife, Della Bea Robinson, in the film Ray , as Kay Amin in The Last King of Scotland , and Alicia Masters in the 2005 live action Fantastic Four film and its 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer....
, Roy Lee

Roy Lee

Roy Lee is a Korean American film producer who regularly takes well known Asian films and remakes them for United States audiences. Examples include The Ring , The Grudge and The Departed....
, Jason Filardi

Jason Filardi

Jason Filardi is an United States screenwriter....
, Scott Wolf

Scott Wolf

Scott Richard Wolf is an United States actor, who may be best known for his roles on Party of Five, Everwood and The Nine ....
, Ralph Asher Alpher

Ralph Asher Alpher

Ralph Asher Alpher was a United States of America physical cosmology....
, Ina Garten

Ina Garten

Ina Rosenberg Garten is an United States author and host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa. Known for creating fine cuisine foods with an emphasis on fresh ingredients and timesaving tips, she has been championed by Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, and Patricia Wells as an authority on cooking and home entertaining....
, Dana Bash

Dana Bash

Dana Ruth Schwartz Bash King better known as Dana Bash is an American reporter and anchorwoman for CNN who currently covers the Capitol Hill beat alongside Jessica Yellin and her husband John King ....
, L. Ron Hubbard

L. Ron Hubbard

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was an American science fiction writer who devised a self-help system called Dianetics, first published in 1950, which he developed over the next three decades into a set of doctrines and rituals he called Scientology....
, Margaret Truman

Margaret Truman

Mary Margaret Truman-Daniel, widely known throughout her life as "Margaret Truman", was an United States singer who later became a successful writer....
, Red Auerbach

Red Auerbach

Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was a basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death....
, Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin

Alexander Rae Baldwin III is an United States film and television actor. Working as Alec Baldwin, he has appeared in prominent films such as Beetlejuice, as Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October , in the Martin Scorsese films The Aviator and The Departed....
, Chuck Todd

Chuck Todd

Charles David "Chuck" Todd is the American political director and chief White House correspondent for NBC News, and contributing editor to "Meet the Press"....
, Darla Moore

Darla Moore

Darla Dee Moore is the partner of the private investment firm, Rainwater, Inc and is married to the self-made Texan billionaire Richard Rainwater who founded the firm....
, S.M. Krishna, Rachel Zoe

Rachel Zoe

Rachel Zoe , born Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig, is an United States professional fashion stylist notable for having worked with numerous high-profile female celebrities....
, Theodore N. Lerner, Randy Levine

Randy Levine

Randy Levine is currently the President of the New York Yankees.Levine has been the President of the New York Yankees since January 2000.Before joining the Yankees, Levine served as New York City?s Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Planning and Administration....
and Lee Kun-hee

Lee Kun-hee

Lee Kun-Hee was a former chairman of Samsung Electronics until he resigned on April 21st 2008 owing to Samsung Slush funds scandal. Lee has a degree in economics from Waseda University in Tokyo and an MBA from George Washington University in the United States....
.

Notable faculty

As the university is located within blocks of the State Department, White House, Department of the Interior, and other Federal government buildings of significant import, the university attracts many influential guest lecturers and visiting professors. Notable faculty include: George Gamow

George Gamow

George Gamow , born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov , was a Russian Empire-born theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He discovered quantum tunneling and worked on radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus, stellar evolution, stellar nucleosynthesis, big bang nucleosynthesis, nucleocosmogenesis and genetics....
(1934–1954), physicist and cosmologist; Edward Teller

Edward Teller

Edward Teller was a Jewish-Hungarian-American theoretical physics physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb", even though he claimed that he did not care for the title....
(1935–1941), nuclear physicist and father of the hydrogen bomb; Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Seyyed Hossein Nasr , an Iranian University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, is a leading Iranian Islamic philosophy....
, founder and first president of the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy; Edward "Skip" Gnehm, former U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Kuwait and Australia; Marcus Raskin

Marcus Raskin

Marcus Raskin is a prominent American social critic, political activist, author, and philosopher, working for progressive social change in the United States....
, former member of the national security counsel under President Kennedy and founder of the Institute for Policy Studies; Abba Eban

Abba Eban

Abba Eban was an Israeli diplomat and politician....
, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education & Culture and Minister of Foreign Affairs; John Logsdon

John Logsdon

John Logsdon is chairman of the Space Policy Institute at The George Washington University.Logsdon is on the board of directors of the Planetary Society, and was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board....
, member of Columbia Accident Investigation Board, NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
Advisory Council; Frank Sesno

Frank Sesno

Frank Sesno is a professor of public policy and communication at The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs and is an Emmy Award-winning special contributor to CNN....
, CNN

CNN

Cable News Network, almost always referred to by its initialism CNN, is a major US Cable News Network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first station to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television network in the United States....
Special Correspondent; James Carafano

James Carafano

James Jay Carafano is a prominent American scholar on national security and international studies at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC....
, Heritage Foundation national security and homeland security expert; Leon Fuerth

Leon Fuerth

Leon Sigmund Fuerth is a former diplomat who served as national security adviser to former Vice President of the United States Al Gore. He was succeeded in that capacity by I....
, former national security adviser to Vice President Al Gore

Al Gore

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. is an United States environmentalism activist who served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President of the United States Bill Clinton....
; James Rosenau, political theorist and former president of the International Studies Association; Chris Kojm, Deputy Director of the 9/11 Commission and Iraq Study Group as well as President of the 9/11 Discourse Project; Dr. Nancy E Gary

Nancy E Gary

Nancy E. Gary was the third woman dean of a U.S. medical school in the 20th century and the first woman in the U.S. to serve as dean at more than one medical school....
, former dean of Albany Medical College, Executive Vice President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Dean of its F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine; and Roy Richard Grinker

Roy Richard Grinker

Roy Richard Grinker is an author and Professor of Anthropology, International relations, and Human Sciences at George Washington University.Grinker is an authority on North Korea and South Korean relations....
, anthropologist and expert on autism

Autism

Autism is a Neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior....
and North-South Korean relations, is also a professor.

Notable honorary degrees

The University has traditionally given honorary degrees to people who have made an influence in Washington like: J. Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . As the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States, he succeeded Franklin D....
(1946), John Wesley Snyder (Treasury Secretary, Doctor of Law, 1947), Ulysses S. Grant III

Ulysses S. Grant III

Ulysses Simpson Grant III was the son of Frederick Dent Grant, and the grandson of General of the Army and President of the United States Ulysses S....
(Doctor of Law, 1956), John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, serving from 1961 until John F....
(Doctor of Law, 1961), Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the List of Secretaries of State of the United States United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President of the United States Barack Obama....
(Doctor of Public Service, 1994), Elizabeth Dole

Elizabeth Dole

Mary Elizabeth Hanford "Liddy" Dole is an United States politician who served in both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush president of the United States administrations....
(Doctor of Public Service, 1995), William H. Rehnquist (Doctor of Law, 1996), Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor is an United States jurist and the first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of the Supreme Court of the United States....
(Doctor of Law, 2003), Barbara Bush

Barbara Bush

Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and mother of the 43rd President of the United States George W....
(Doctor of Public Service, 2006), and George H.W. Bush (Doctor of Public Service, 2006). Peace advocates and leaders of other nations who have influenced the world have also received this honor. These people include: King Mohammad V of Morocco (Doctor of Law, 1957), Iranian Shah

Shah

Shah is a Persian language term for a monarch that has been adopted in many other languages.Shah used as a last name by Jains and Hindus is unrelated....
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, List of kings of Persia, , styled His Imperial Majesty, and holding the imperial titles of Shahanshah , and Aryamehr , was the monarchy of Iran from September 16, 1941, until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on February 11, 1979....
(Doctor of Public Service, 1974), Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Fox Lichtenstein was a prominent United States pop artist, his work heavily influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style....
(Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, 1996), Yitzhak Rabin

Yitzhak Rabin

was an Israeli politician and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
(Doctor of Public Service, 1996), Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African cleric and activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of History of South Africa in the Apartheid Era....
(Doctor of Public Service, 1999), and Andy Rooney

Andy Rooney

Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney is an United States radio and television writer. He became most famous as a humorist and political commentator with his weekly broadcast A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney , a part of the CBS News program 60 Minutes since 1978....
(Doctor of Public Service, 2005).

George Washington University

History

Founding and early history

Expansion

Campuses

Foggy Bottom

Mount Vernon

Ashburn and other centers

Organization

University

Schools and colleges

Academics

Admission

Tuition

Research

Student life

Student organizations and government

Controversies

Colonial Inauguration

Greek life

Athletics and spirit programs

Athletics

Men's Basketball

Spirit programs

Notable alumni, faculty, and degrees

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

Notable honorary degrees

External links